1. ATH is pretty important. ATH is used in almost every equation, don't ignore it.
2. DEF is important as well.
3. A good score for DIII is 60. If you can get 60's for your cores you'll win a lot of games.

Posted by luthien33 on 2/3/2013 10:36:00 AM (view original):I thought this Sim would be fun, but I just can't figure it out. I've read the help section and I'm still getting my butt kicked. I don't want to be one and done, but I am so frustrated.

Div III North Coast Athletic Conference GROVE CITY -- Crum

Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Luthien33

You took over a team that had been under Sim control for a number of seasons, so you're going to have a roster that's a mish-mosh of players randomly recruited with no thought or plan -- there might be some useful tools there, but one shouldn't expect to walk in and instantly create success in that sort of environment. The guys you brought in will need time to grow and develop into useful pieces to the puzzle. You're also a fairly young team with sophs and freshmen making up 2/3 of the roster, so you're likely at an IQ disadvantage vs. all your opponents (and if you changed offensive and/or defensive systems when you took over, then the whole team and not just the underclassmen scrambling to learn).

In a nutshell -- patience. It takes time to build a program, and some programs start with a better foundation than others. Address the obvious deficiencies in athleticism and defense through recruiting, schedule wisely in the non-conference, gradually purge any weak links the Sim left you for players and you should see an uptick in wins as the core of your team (the soph and freshman clases) age and rise.

A big tip from me is to buy the 5 season package so that you are committed to a 5 year plan and not tempted to just fail in the first season and give up. Taking over almost any team is going to require patience unless you were lucky enough to get a team that someone left so they could move up. But then, where's the challenge in that? And certainly you can't really feel too proud of success with a team you didn't build.

So think of the long term plan. But don't neglect the short term as the higher you build your prestige the easier it will be to get better players during recruiting.

Also, read this forum on a regular basis. There's a lot of stuff to learn here. Sure, there will be conflicting advice at times but the discussion around it will be just as informative.

Specifically - you are running a fastbreak/press which requires good ATH ratings to be successful and you just don't have those types of players. Given the youth of your team, I'd switch to a more conventional/basic offense and defense (motion/man-to-man) as they are far easier to deal with as a beginning coach.

You also have some very poor defenders on your team. As they say, defense shows up every night so consider that a core attribute of any player you recruit. Sometimes a recruit may fit a role and be a poor defender but at the beginning of your career it's easier to not try to get too fancy with that type of situation.

Those are in my view the most basic schemes to run and you can be okay with them with the least practice at the systems. Do it soon, this season isnt going to be a winner anyway,

I'd do man defense, but with weak DEF ratings that will be a problem. Even though I'd do zone, I would still make adding good DEF a priority. And ATH.

If you dont want the transition, you could bail on this world and find a team in another world that already runs something other than FAST/PRESS and work from there. I think any offense other than fastbreak and either man or zone would be okay. I'd go man cause I like it, but either okay

Those are good recommendations too. Basically, anything other than FB/press with up tempo is going to be better. I'd also suggest trying to slow it down to maximize the time your better players are on the court.

Forgot to add - I think you will appreciate the success more if you stick with this team and build them up into a winner. But that's only if you are a stick with it type of guy. If you think you will get too frustrated, then going somewhere else for a fresh start might be the better option.

You have 6 new players + some SIM leftovers. EVERY coach would struggle with that combination. Ideally, you should use a slow tempo to keep your youngsters within striking distance but, with the fastbreak offense, you don't have that option.

There'll be coaches that disagree with me, but I hate the fastbreak offense and, in combiation with the press, I like it even less

You can cut players that you didn't recruit with no penalty. If you cut a player that you recruited, your reputation will decrease and recruiting is more difficult. It's not a BIG penalty so I wouldn't be discouraged about it.

Normally, you get $2500/opening + carryover money + postseason money. I don't think you get extra money if you cut a player. So, if you graduate 1 and cut 3, you only get the money for one player.

Look at the FAQs for the details about cutting. I may not be 100% correct